Unfortunately, it seems that yoga in the western world commonly presents as a physically difficult fitness activity practiced by very limber people wearing expensive work out clothing. It can be daunting to see these images and may lead people to feel like there is no way they could ever start a yoga practice.
That is why I'm so passionate about making ALL parts of yoga (physical poses, breath practice, meditation, self inquiry studies, chanting, and more!) available to students regardless of mobility, age, identity, or any other factor. The is no ideal characteristic that makes up a "yoga body". If you are walking around in a body, you can do yoga in it! At Riverside Wellness Center on Saturdays at 8:30 am, I will teach Adaptive Yoga. This class will be a combination of chair and mat yoga as it suits the individual student. That means that some students will do a pose in a chair while others are doing the same pose seated on the mat, or on their hands and knees on the mat, or using the wall. We will also use our full supply of bolsters, blocks, blankets, and straps to make poses both more accessible and more challenging! Register online to set up your account with Riverside to pay with credit card, and get your choice of discounted class packages, or pay the drop in rate of $18. (We cannot sell class packages via cash payment).
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I recently finished a great training with YOGABODY® Teachers College and I'm so excited to share what I learned. Actually, most of it was a review of yoga breath practices that I've explored during my thirteen years of study. This course also highlighted the scientific research around breath as well as in depth discussion about exactly what is going on in the body when we breathe.
In this four week course at Riverside Wellness Center, I'm going to share these practices along with how and why they work to settle our nervous system. Breath practices can help improve sleep, reduce stress, balance energy and improve focus. We will learn which practices work best in different situations and at different times of the day. The course will be supplemented with written materials and video recordings of practices so that you can keep going after the class is over. We will meet every Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 pm for four weeks starting March 13th. Cost is $80. Sign up by Oh, I love March.
I know March is muddy and confused and overly dramatic, but it kicks off the spring planting season with cold weather herbs and veggies, so it always rejuvenates me! Last year in March, I did a hip opener series, sharing blog and social media posts with many ways (mat, floor, chair, wall) for doing common hip opening poses. That was a lot of fun, and if you love hip openers, you can go back to my blog archives and find all the posts here. This year, we're going to change it up. In class and online we're going to welcome the spring sun with SUN SALUTES! What is a Sun Salute? Sun Salute aka "Surya Namaskar" is a classic yoga flow (moving from one pose to the next) that combines movements like forward folds, lunges, back bends, downward and upward dogs, and more fun stuff to boot. It can be used as a warm up before other standing poses, or as a stand alone practice in itself. BUT WAIT! You say.
Why? Because yoga is an adaptive practice that is for Every Body, no exceptions. That means we can practice Sun Salutations
Yoga For Lower Back HealthIn January, we spent time strengthening the entire back body. We did chest opening poses and backbends that contract the shoulder blades. We engaged in twists and movements that activated the middle back muscles. We also worked on core and balance movements that keep the hips and spinal muscles strong and supportive. In February, we are going to focus specifically on unlocking discomfort in the lower back, which often means exploring the hips in a big way. We're going to strengthen and stretch the front and back of the hips (the hip flexors and extensors) in poses like lunges, rolling bridges, chair pose, and flat-back forward folds. We will strengthen the outer hips and external rotators as well in poses like tree pose, goddess pose, and warrior 2. All these movements can be performed in a chair, on a mat, and everywhere in between, so get ready to have some fun! I'd love to finally get around to recording some video for those of you who can't make it to my in-person classes. If I do, you will hear me crowing about it in your email, on my website blog , and on my youtube channel . Don't forget social media as well, specifically Instagram and Facebook. See you there! Try Something New!"MEDITATION & MOVEMENT" - This class will run every Saturday morning at Riverside Wellness in Milford at 8:30 am. We will begin with mindfulness and breathing practices. We will then do simple and gentle stretches and movements to help settle the mind. The class will conclude with a long guided meditation practice and final relaxation, including scalp massages with lavender oil. Pre-registration requested but not required. $18 drop in, or less with a class package. This class is accessible to those who would rather practice seated in a chair. "BEGINNER/BASIC YOGA" - Wednesdays 9:30 to 10:30. This is one of my favorite kinds of yoga to teach. This style class is more like a workshop then a 'regular' yoga class. I'll ask what you are looking for in your practice, and we will do a lot of discussion and adjusting to figure out how to get a pose right for your body. Consider this a mostly private yoga training session where you set the itinerary, including preferring to practice in a chair! This class is currently only at Riverside Wellness and has the same pricing structure as the above mentioned meditation class. You can buy a class package and use that to join any of the yoga classes available at Riverside. Check out the Riverside website for full schedule details and pricing packages. "ACCESSIBLE YOGA" AT HCL - Tuesday 12:15 to 1:15 at Hunterdon County Main. My original intention was for this class to be just a mat yoga class. However, since there are no other props at the library, and since a chair is the ultimate yoga prop, this class will be a combination of chair and mat yoga as it suits the student. That means that some students will do a pose in a chair while others are doing the same pose seated on the mat, or on their hands and knees on the mat. It's a challenge for me as a teacher but I am really enjoying the pose variations that we can explore by having chairs handy. You MUST pre-register for this since the library classes are limited in size and are getting close to full. Go here to sign up the the coming week's class! Workshop Sneak PeekSo far, the newsletter covered what you are (or can be) doing in terms of yoga. But hey, I'm a student too! I'm taking a handful of really interesting training courses in the next few months, so that will likely affect the class offerings I have this spring. Here's a peek of what I'm doing.
Breath Coach Training - The ancient study of breathing practices (pranayama) combined with modern scientific research about breath, sleep, and the nervous system. The Science of Stretching - I haven't started this yet, but I think there will be a lot of stretching! Accessible Yoga Teacher Training - Making yoga available equally to all students, which I love! This course has special topics like wheelchair yoga, bed yoga, queer and trans yoga and lots and lots of chair yoga practices. Tantric Meditation Courses - I'm in three of these this year, so clearly that's my favorite. I love diving deeply into learning about yoga philosophy and practice. Once I've processed and embodied my new techniques, I plan to incorporate them into existing classes and add some new workshops as well. I also anticipate offering private breath and yoga training sessions via zoom and in person! As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to drop me a line or ask any questions about my classes or yoga in general by emailing me at groundedearthyoga@gmail.com. It's that time of year again! And since I love lists and plans and writing lists in my planner, January first is a great day for me.
Last January, I made up a fitness challenge that involved "doing jack shit," and I wrote every day about mindful meditation and yoga practices that promoted restful self care. I loved sharing what I've learned for the years in my own practice and trainings, and enjoyed the challenge of writing every day. I've decided to pull off another January blog theme. Hopefully I actually have the time and energy to teach eight classes a week and still write stuff! Since we are BACK to the beginning of a new year and BACK to making lists of resolutions, I've decided that in January, we should go BACK to our BACKS! So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to share poses and movements that I've been teaching for years to promote back strength and mobility. I'll also be teaching these poses in my mat and chair yoga classes this month at Riegel Ridge Community Center, @riversidewellnessmilford, and @hclibrarynj . So join me in person, or keep an eye on my blog/social media posts for a month of healthy back care! #yoga #chairyoga #Hatha #hathayoga #backcare #yogaforbackpain #yogaforall #backworkout I feel like 2023 has been the year I recovered from Covid.
In March of 2020, I had been teaching in multiple locations in Hunterdon and Warren County when I suddenly found myself locked in my house and filling the role of homeschool teacher to a first grader and a special needs 16 year old. It was a bit of a jolt, if you can imagine. I finally got back to teaching in the Fall of 2021, only to lose my mother a month later. As many of you know, there are no words to describe that shock. Although I continued to teach once a week, I felt like I was still getting my bearings in all of 2022. By the end of that year, I really felt like I had reached some kind of safe ground to launch from, energetically and emotionally. I made a vague intention that I was going to get out of my comfort zone and teach more. Now we're closing out 2023, and I am so very happy to see how that intention played out. I'm especially pleased to have gotten to know so many wonderful students at the Library and the Riverside Wellness Center, along with my steadfast crew at Riegel Ridge. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping me find the way through my own personal darkness. Practicing yoga with you brings me immense joy and meaning, and I'm grateful for you all! I am also so grateful to my sangha in Frenchtown at Yoga Loka. I will always be a teacher who sees herself first as a student and a practitioner, and I know that my online and in-person spiritual studies groups are my emotional path forward through obstacles and confusion. I am eternally grateful for my mentors and teachers, especially Bonnie Pariser and Uma Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati. As we turn the page to close out 2023, I wish you all health and happiness in the coming year, and I'm looking forward to even more joy and connection as your teacher and friend! For our gentle yoga chair and mat practice this month, I'll be playing beautiful classical piano music composed by local musician (and yogi!) Heidi Breyer. Heidi just departed to live in Germany where she has family, but I'm sure we'll be seeing her back in Frenchtown for visits!
Heidi and I are fellow yoga students at Yoga Loka in Frenchtown, and her soul is as sweet and deep as her music. Her most recent album "Amor Aeternus: A Requiem For the Common Man" is inspired by the Latin Mass and is performed with a full choral ensemble. During classes I have been playing her earlier albums, and my favorite is "Moonlight In Empty Rooms." You can find her streaming on all platforms with her latest single releases, updates, blog, and samples of her albums on her website at www.heidibreyer.com. We're busy, right? But we can't keep running around forever, no matter what the calendar tells us. So let's just stop, drop, and RELAX into some gentle yoga!
This month on Friday mornings at Riegel Ridge, we will take it slow. On December 1st, we will do our regular monthly Joint Freeing Series practice. Every Friday after that, we will continue to relax with gentle yoga postures (like the "Reclined Cobbler's Pose" above) and extra long relaxations at the end of class, which include a lavender oil head and neck massage by your truly. Seriously! In Chair Yoga at the HC Main Library, Riegel Ridge, and Riverside Wellness Center, we will move with gentle flowing poses to classical music, sending our bodies into rest with a moving meditation that is more like a beautiful dance. I'll be playing the simply gorgeous piano music by Frenchtown composer Heidi Breyer. If you check out her music (streaming everywhere) you will NOT be disappointed. Go to the schedule page to see which class fits into your day! Help us help the community! There are so many fun classes and experiences to try out.
My favorite charity this time of year of the United Way's "Holiday Hands" program. With generous donations from the community, the UW provides gift cards and newly purchased gifts so income strained families in Hunterdon County can still have a happy holiday celebration with loved ones. You can donate yourself to this program in multiple ways - giving cash donations in person or online, shopping from the Amazon wish list, or choosing a family's wish list and do the shopping yourself. Get more info about this wonderful program at https://www.uwhunterdon.org/our-programs/holiday-hands. To participate in our day of giving at Riverside Wellness Center, register online and save your spot in the classes you choose. Go to www.riversidewellnessandenchantments.com. ASAP! Beating the Holiday Blues
I don’t know how it happened, but I think we can all agree on these two points. 1.) November is already almost over and 2.) We have SO MUCH to do. Or maybe it’s just me! This time of year brings out my festive side, especially as a mom of young (and young at heart) kids. I want us to do all the fun stuff – decorating the house, going to tree lightings, baking cookies, shopping for family, making crafts, and so on and so on, forever. Add all that to the regular obligations of teaching and keeping the house in working order, and the result is that low hum of anxiety whispering in my ear, “You are running out of time…….” So what to do? In my case, I hold fast to my personal daily meditation practice. Even if I only have a half hour a day, I make sure I take that time to get on my mat and find some inner quiet. This time of year is also wonderful to add a restorative yoga pose after meditation, like lying down on the mat under a blanket and a lavender eye mask (called “Shavasana” in yoga speak). Taking this time to connect to self allows me to replenish my drained energy. With my sense of calm back on track, I can connect more to the joy of the holiday season, than the stress and obligation. If you feel like you could use a similar reset, join me December 5th and 12th at Riverside Wellness Center for “Meditation For Stress Relief”. We will do some gentle seated yoga movements, breathing practice, and then settle into Shavasana while I guide you through a relaxing meditation, which ends in a head and neck massage with lavender oil (if you choose). You can attend one or both sessions, and both will have a recording so you can practice on your own at home - although you will have to enlist outside help if you want that neck massage! We will meet from 6:30 to 7:30. Pre-registration is required, and you can reserve one class for $25 or both for $40. Click here to register! Whether you join me for the class or not, please take time for yourself this busy month to find joy, peace, and the connection to your True Self. Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to you all! Thank you for being my students and my friends. |
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